Welcome to the Painting Challenge. Here you will find the fabulous, fevered work from miniature painters from around the world. While participants come from every colour, gender, age and nationality, they have at least three things in common: they love miniatures, enjoy a supportive community and they have all taken the Challenge.
This site features the current year's event along with the archives of past Challenges.
Enjoy your visit and please come back and visit us soon.

Sections

Monday, 23 February 2015

After the predicted busy few weeks it's been back to the brushes properly. Having done about 80% of the Imperial forces I require I thought it was opportune to actually revisit the Mahdist forces and top them up. Over the busy period I was able to snatch an odd 15 minutes here and there so I prepared and constructed the the remains of the 14 boxes of Perry Ansar. Last weekend I broke out the airbrush to get a base coat on them.

Here we have a total of 62 Beja and 82 Ansar.. 144 figures altogether..this takes my total foot forces to around 800 figures - I really need to do a full count. The vision of 1000 is within reach.

Having worked out a simple set of processes during last year's Challenge for these I was confident they would not take too long. Doing a large number of figures together means the economy of scale comes into play. Just stick some music on or having something on live streaming. In this case I got through 23 episodes of Season two of "24". It's allowed me to knock the painting of these lads off in about 7 days...

82 Ansar

62 Beja

Oh, and this should take me over 3000 points. Very pleased with the winter painting season so far. More about plans for this collection next time..I am off to sort the next point bombe... And order some more bases - Warbases , more tufts -Tajima, more paint -Vallejo, some storage - Really Useful boxes. The economic benefit of the Challenge is kicking in somewhat.

From Curt:Daaayum. Make a mad dash to your fallout shelters folks, Dave's joined Mark in going nuclear. Wow. Just wow. Fantastic stuff Mr. Docherty, this mob is off-the-hook brilliant. I think I see a How-To article for Wargame Bloggers Quarterly on the horizon for you. :)

So, now that you've pierced the 3K mark, (and my hearty congratulations on that stupendous feat) I thought I'd gently remind you that last year Mr. Loki Esq. managed to hit 4180 points by the end of the Challenge. Hmm. A very honourable closing target I think. You know, just sayin'...

This week's entry is three 28mm Celt chariots from Wargames Factory. This is the contents of a single box, so good value for money, but craptastic sculpts.

Three chariots for Hail Caesar.

These models are part of my Celt army for Hail Caesar.

Top view, to see the groundwork.

There's not a lot to say about these. They are more of the unfortunate Wargames Factory sculpts. After painting these my cheap and thrifty little heart has decided that the cost of other company's models are fair and and no more of these will be joining my forces.

Side view showing the wicker chariot sides.

The only part of this kit that is OK is the chariots themselves. They are well put together and would be easy to rig with reins if you were into such things.

The ugly WF horses made me so sad I stepped away from these for over a week.

The horses are the same as for the cavalry and are so bad that they depressed me and I had to step away from these models for a week. They were almost done for last Monday but I just couldn't face them at the time.

It's hard to fit two dudes in the cart, so there's two gymnasts.

The bases are GW chariot bases. They give plenty of space for the model as well as some fun ground work. The next batch of these will have more battlefield clutter and even some dead Romans.

The other side.

The lesson I will take away from this is that it's just not worth buying models that you don't like the look of. My distaste made the painting a chore. Without the Challenge to spur me on I'm sure these would have gotten pushed to the back of the table until I needed them in a game.

From Curt:

It's funny, when I first opened this entry I said to myself, 'Geez Louise, those are some uuugly, fat-arsed horse sculpts.' I felt awful but then I read Aaron's similar description and I didn't feel quite so bad. What can I say Mr. Hunt? You fought the good fight and I applaud you for sticking to your brushes and doing up them in fine fashion. I think you've done a great job on them, particularly the crew, basework and chariots. If you have to do any more chariots I can recommend the Warlord kits - they are quite good.

All this being said, these figures will probably end up being complete monsters on the tabletop, chewing through Romans like nobody's business. :)

Here we have three artillery pieces to reinforce my Union Artillery corps for Longstreet. The Figures are Blue Moon but they were painted some time ago so only get points for guns them selves.

There are two 10 pounder Parrott rifles and one 12 Pound Napoleon. Blue Moon sells their artillery in bags of six I don't really need that many of any one gun so I have been buying up artillery a piece or two at at time from what ever source I can find them. These three are Essex they might be a bit small but not noticeably I hope.

Three Crew served weapons is 12 points. A busy schedule including a Flames of War Tourney and a Game for Total Con took up much of my most productive painting time. I hope to bounce back next week. I am a head of the game for the Anti-Hero bonus round as that set of miniatures is completed but your going to have to wait for that one.

From Curt:

Very good Adam. As you and Tamsin well know, the Yankees can never have enough guns. I've not picked up 'Longstreet' yet, but since I'm a big fan of Mustafa's work I think I should get a copy.

I got to admit that I had to slow down after the 'Hot' entry. Probably needed to just do some different things from this. Watch a few movies etc. It's easy as well to hit a wall filled with indecision when you assemble these figures after you have completed a few. Avoiding clones and keeping it mixed up required having a good glance at the completed ones.

I broke with the majority of previous figures and swapped the colours (red/black or black/red) as well to try and avoid clones. Even though I found something for the Comedy round I just couldn't get it done in time. Instead I cracked on with this project that still has more to add. Army's are never complete perhaps.

I realised that the Crossbow dude is without the pavise that all of his associates have. Will have to amend that perhaps. More to do in the factory so perhaps an army photo after that.

From Curt:I think more than a few of us are feeling the 'burn' now. It comes with every Challenge: the 'End-in-Sight Paint Exhaustion.' The upside is that there's been some glorious work done over this season, with your's definitely amongst it. Again, another wonderful addition to this project Brendon AND this entry sees you break past your 1K point target. Well done!

I'm quite keen to see a 'force-to-date' shot of this project when you get a chance. Perhaps right near the end of the Challenge?

Well, I blame Martin Goddard. I know what you are thinking, who the heck is Martin Goddard! Well he's the guy who writes the rules for "Peter Pig" and the latest edition of PBI is now out and to celebrate I have decided to paint another company with a little support.

Therefore kindly let me introduce Captain Brown of Dog Company. Yes I could have done Captain winters of Easy company but I did not. I must admit all the names are made up and I have no idea if these were ever officers in Dog company and neither do I much care as these names were all easy to paint and by adding names it does give them all a little more life than random lumps of metal usually get and that's good enough for me.

The first Platoon is led by Lt. Cole. It consists of the command element, 1 Bazooka stand, 1 smg stand 5 Garand rifle stands and 3 BAR stands. Originally BARs (Browning Automatic Rifles) were considered to big at 48 inches to be a paratroopers weapon so were not originally issued. So during the Mediterranean theatre they were never officially issued but by 1944 and D-Day they were. Yellow clump foliage shows the bases designation for BARs.

The second Platoon is led by Lt. Powell. While it has a similar make up to 1st Platoon I have swapped out the BARs for .30 LMGs hence the red clump foliage. I knew you were paying attention. But other than that the platoon has the same number and type of stands. And with me every platoon gets a Bazooka as I know my usual opponent likes STUG 4s so a bit of Anti-tank tends to keep the game a little more balanced.

Third Platoon sees the return of the BARs, although I do have some more .30 cal LMGs to paint up a little later. 2nd Lt Dixon commands here and if he does well in the games I will paint out the 2. If any of them die I will paint out the names and paint someone-else's in. Yeah I am like that. Again the same unit composition as 1st Platoon. So moving on.

4th Platoon is the MMG platoon. As the MMG platoon and 2nd platoon use the same .30 Cal machineguns I thought it only right to give these guys orange tufts and to lay them down to indicate a more fixed position. In reality they had a different tripod which in the PBI rules changes them from am LMG to a MMG. It also changes the point cost of them. This small Platoon also has a bazooka stand (tell me that was a surprise) and a Garand rifle stand to represent the guys bringing up ammunition. It also has a command stand with Lt Hopkins now in charge.

I also have a stovepipe platoon although you may call them medium mortars if you choose. If you have not noticed it already each figure has the US flag painted on their right sleeve just to show whey are not Germans. If you haven't noticed feel free to go back and check. These really were quite fiddly to paint on and I sis not manage to get all the strips let alone all the stars on them but they are 15mm figures so what do you expect. So this platoon has a command stand, 3 medium Mortars, a single Garand Rifle stand and as you Know by now a Bazooka stand. I know you thought this is where it would end but now I have an engineer platoon to finish off. So expect that to follow before the end of the challenge. You may take that as a warning but I had to buy some more troops for it yesterday and did not want to miss the weekly deadline.

If one lot of antitank was not enough I have also finished 2 57mm anti-tank guns. In the rules these do not need a platoon commander stand to accompany them as they may well be farmed out to different companies within the regiment. As the Typical bases for Peter Pig ere not big enough I have resorted to my bases box and put these on some flames of war bases. 2 Anti tank guns should be enough and if not I will use my next unit.

Yes 4 75mm Pack howitzers. again these were air dropped so totally in keeping with the rest of the unit. As with the Guns above being Peter Pig Models they did not fit on bases so I used up some more flames or war bases. While these may not be all that awesome in the game they could fire a variety of rounds in real life including HE, Smoke and Mustard Gas..... yes they could but there is no way I would want to drop with a glider full of mustard gas! these guns were never towed behind lorries or jeeps for very far as all the pieces were so light doing so would damage them. If they needed to be moved a long distance it was better to dismantle them and load the pieces into a truck!

Just when you thought I had finished one last wafer thin figure. A single sniper. As there was no need to put him on a standard base and as I had 1 spare another FOW base was used. In the game snipers are assets which may or may not be effective or even appear on the battle board but I though best to have one just In case. you never know I might do another as I do have one lurking about.

And Finally a couple of shots showing it all together. Just so you do not think I have just painted 1 unit and a couple of spares and re arranged them in different photos. (Ray, Tamsin you know who I am talking to!)

Just a final note about the bases. Other than sand and filler, clump foliage and static grass, I have also driven myself quite cuckoo doing reed foliage as well. the reeds came from a wall papering brush. I cut the bristles and then in groups superglued them in place, and yes I did get some on my teeth and yes that was not the plan and I do not recommend it to anyone! It really is funny the lengths we go to some times!

I have not done all these in a week I have been working on them since Christmas day and I prefer to think of them as not a bomb but an air assault. All the figures are 15mm and are a mixture of Battlefront (Flames of War) and Peter Pig figures. They are all based for PBI 3rd edition, and yes as mentioned above an engineer platoon to finish as well as various odds and sod to cover ever eventuality!So How many figures? Captain Brown. 2 figures.1st Platoon:

Command stand 2 figures

Bazooka stand 2 figures

SMG stand 2 Figures.

5 Garand rifle stands 3 figures a stand, 15 figures total.

3 BAR stands 2 figures a stand, 6 figures in total

31 15mm figures2nd Platoon

Command stand 2 figures

Bazooka stand 2 figures

SMG stand 2 Figures.

5 Garand rifle stands 3 figures a stand, 15 figures total.

3 .30 cal LMGs stands 2 figures a stand, 6 figures in total

31 15 mm figure in total3rd Platoon

Command stand 2 figures

Bazooka stand 2 figures

SMG stand 2 Figures.

5 Garand rifle stands 3 figures a stand, 15 figures total.

3 BAR stands 2 figures a stand, 6 figures in total

31 Figures in totalMachine gun Platoon

Command stand 2 figures

Bazooka stand 2 figures

Garand Rifle stand 3 figures

4 MMG stand each of 2 figures but laying down

16 figure total but 8 are laying down so counts as 11 figures.Mortar Platoon.

Command stand 2 figures

Garand Rifle Stand 3 figures

Bazooka Stand 2 figures

3 mortar stands with mortars so 6 figures and 3 mortars

13 figures and 3 mortars (Not sure if they get any points so let us say not!)Anti tank and Artillery

2 57mm guns with 4 crew each!

4 75mm Howitzers with 4 crew each!

24 figures and 6 guns1 sniper. Grand total 149 15mm figures. (8 of which are laying down.) 6 guns, and 3 mortars. I think but feel free to count them . I will leave Curt to do all the maths and assign points ! (Let's hope he is generous!!!!)The Partridge and Pear tree not included in the points but are modelled opps the partridge has flown off! darn there goes another point!That should be enough points to spring me past my target so once the Engineer platoon is out of the war I can get on with some space ships. (I hope).From Curt:Woo! This is a wonderful (and impressively large) entry Clint - well done! The figures are very nice but I must say I'm particularly taken by the verdant groundwork you've created for them. It really brings forward images of the airdrops in France and Holland. (See, the reeds superglued to your teeth paid off!) Beautiful work. Finally, congratulations on blowing past your 1250 point target! Bask in your achievement and enjoy your coast to the finish line!

Well, this week sucked. I was out every night, busy with start of the year stuff at school and Cubs, and output suffered accordingly.

I did manage to get these 8 vehicles from the 7th Panzer Division painted for Battle Group Barbarossa. They are a mixed bag. First up, three Panzer IVs from Zvezda with extra stowage added and a flag made from champagne bottle foil.

Also from Zvezda is this little StuG IIIE. I think the proportions of this model are a bit wonky - it seems to be too wide - but I have a soft spot for it. I bought this kit at the Russian artillery museum in St Petersburg last year, which is a must if you ever find yourself in in those parts.

From Battlefront now, a brace of Krupp Protze trucks, which brought back fond memories of making the Matchbox kit as a boy. When PSC releases their German heavy weapons set I'll now have something to drag around the PaK36 and IG18 they're including.

Battlefront is also responsible for this Horch 180, which is destined to cart around the HQ of an infantry platoon.

And finally, a teeny tiny Pazerjaeger I, also from Battlefront. A nice little kit that comes in a pack of two, so I can use the second one for the desert.

So that's 8 15mm vehicles and 11 crew. Warm hugs everyone, Dux xx.

From Curt:Wonderful work Alan. I'm a big fan of early war German equipment so I love seeing the StuG and the Panzerjaeger I. The stowage and aerial recognition flags really finish them off nicely.